Dodd vs. La Duc

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May has been a busy month, my backlog of figures to photograph continues to grow. As soon as I can clear the photo area I’ll grab the camera and start shooting pictures…

In the little bit of spare time I’ve been able to find I’ve been revisiting my Napoleonic Skirmish Game project. As you may know from previous posts my Napoleonic skirmish game uses our Scruby 45mm Napoleonic Skirmish figures and for rules I’ve been using my Napoleonic TSATF variant – The Sword and the Eagle. While I really like TSATF, I’ve never been really happy with my Napoleonic version. I’ve tried several other rules sets including Sharp Practice (Too Fat Lardies), but until recently I have not found a set I really like. Some number of months ago I decided to try out one more set of rules: Song of Drums and Shakos (Ganesha Games). So far I’m really liking this game system (In coming weeks I’ll be writing more about our exploits using various rules sets from Ganesha Games)…

Song of Drums and Shakos is a fast playing Napoleonic skirmish games based on the popular Song of Blades and Heroes system. One of the really nice things about this system is that one can play with as few as 5 or 6 figures per player; a points system is used to balance player forces. The game mechanics are far from complex. Each figure has a quality rating and players role for activation for each figure. Depending upon activation roll results figures can perform up to three actions per turn.

The game design is such that it can be used with nearly any figure scale you desire. The rules include measurements for 15mm to 40mm (all measuring is done using measurement sticks – Short, Medium and Long). When playing with 15mm figures one can play on a surface as small as 2 feet by 2 feet (with 28mm figures – 3 feet by 3 feet). For my 45mm figures I’ve adjusted measurements and play in a 4 foot by 6 foot space. When I first wrote/posted this I did not have my notes with me; thus didn’t get ‘it’ right. My adjusted measurements for 45mm to 54mm figures are as follows: Short 115mm, Medium 180mm and Long 270mm. The rules actually provide measurements for 40mm figures. However, most modern 40mm sculpts seem to fit into the same space as 28mm figures, so I recommend using the 25/28mm measurements as presented in the rules. If your 40mm figures have a larger footprint using the 40mm measurements or even my alternate 45/54mm measurements will work just fine. I’ll stick with my recommend playing space of 4 feet square for 40mm figures, unless you are using my alternate distance measurements; in which case I recommend my 4 foot by 6 foot space.

Now that I have a nice , simple set of rules I expect that Lance Corporal Dodd and Carabinier Sergeant La Duc will see much more table top action! Perhaps when I find time to remold, cast and paint some more of the Scruby 54mm Napoleonic miniatures I’ll bring  Sergeant Vladamir of the 37th Russian Jagers out of retirement (I did finally manage to locate the Sergeant Vladamir figure as well as four of his fellow Jagers).

Song of Drums and Shakos is expanded by More Drums and Shakos; which includes additional rules, special rules, weapons, four (4) scenarios as well as army lists for most Nations involved in the Napoleonic wars…

I’ll close out with a N-gauge teaser…

Look for NEW N-gauge Tricorne Era figures in the very near future -Last night I cast patterns for Officers (foot and mounted) as well as the first of the New Highlanders…

Little Wars Wrap-up

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It is the day after Little Wars…

I got a late start on Friday. I had planned on leaving the house by 9:00am, but didn’t get until 11:00am. Some of the delay was just being lazy (hey, I wanted to sleep in just a wee bit) and some was that I decided to do a little last minute casting. I almost forgot a few things, but managed to remember all but the spring clamps  use to secure the pegboard display boards to the table; a quick pit stop at Home Depot solved that problem (and now I have a cheap set of clamps to keep in the convention supply box, so I won’t forget them again).

I arrived at the convention hotel a little after 2:00pm. I spent the next few hours getting the table setup. The dealer area was open until 7:00pm and we hit our break even point by the end of this first session. Saturday we got off to a slow start, but that gave me time to finish setting up (there are always little things to do to improve table setup). The dealer area closed at 5:00 (or was it 6:00) so, I took a short break and went to my room for a quick rest period, then back to check on the SYW Big Battalions game being put on by Bill, Jim and Randy. The game was looking good, but it was too hot in the game area for me, so I took a walk outside to catch some fresh, cool air. SUnday was a slow day in the dealers area. I managed to buy a few Roco Minitanks (some need new paint jobs) and then arranged ofr a trade for some more. I now have a fair selection of tanks to use with my Scrub/Eriksson 20mm WWII troops (both are 1/87 scale). I still need trucks, jeeps and half-tracks should you happen to have any for sale/trade.

What items were popular this year? The usual suspects; Resistant Roosters USMC and Japanese Company Boxes sold well. We also sold out of a new Blasted Planets release (the Bolotomi, more on these later this week when I have some pictures to share). Other popular items were the N-Gauge terrian pieces we talked about recently. The other popular ‘theme’ was our small selection of gently used board games and (S&T) magazines.

The two contests didn’t seem to be really popular (maybe I needed to promote them better?). However we do have two winners. The Winner of the Hugh Ambrose book: The Pacific is Alan Cockrell. Alan wasn’t at the show on Sunday, so we wil be mailing him his prize later this week. The winner of the “How Many Figures in the Jar” contest was…

OK, nobody guessed correctly, and all guesses were over the actual number (which was 86 – a quart jar filled with Scruby 30mm AWI minitures). Since everyone was over the mark, and we couldn’t really have a contest without a winner, we put all the enties in a basket and drew one at random. The lucky winner is Mike Prawn (We will be calling Mike to let him know that he won).

Overall this was a good convention for us, no games played, but a fun time talking with folks and relaxing when not working the table. It looks like our next convention will be Rock-Con in the fall (to much farm work to do this summer & I want to finish a few remolding projects).

Look for more HistoriFigs news in early May.

Countdown to Little Wars

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Only three (3) more days until Little Wars 2010. We hit a slowdown in production work last week when Liam decided to bring home some nasty stomach bug. It hit us all one by one. I was the lucky one it only lasted a couple days for me.

Needless to say we are a bit behind on casting and such, but we are close to being ready for the convention (only a few days behind the schedule I had setup). Alison is finishing up the last of the orders to be picked up at the convention; should be done with those today. That leaves her with a few last minute, out of stock items to catch on Thursday (She gets to take tomorrow, her birthday, off from casting). Tonight I need to try and complete some table display items and if there is any time left print out some more packaging materials (luckily I can finish packing out some items after I setup the tables).

We will have all the usual ‘stuff’ plus a few new items and a bit more in the way of Scruby figures (some 25mm & 30mm figures) on hand. We are also holding a drawing for a copy of  The Pacific by Hugh Ambrose. Anyone making a purchase from HistoriFigs at Little Wars can enter. The drawing will be held Sunday (25 April) at noon. Need not be present to win.

The Pacific

We will also hold our “Guess How Many Figures in the Jar” contest. Closest guess without going over (in the event of a tie, winner will be chosen at random from the qualifying entries) will win $20 in HistoriFigs credit (spend it at Little Wars or wait for your next order). Content open until 11:00am on Sunday, with the winner announced at noon.

Well, I had better get back to work. See you at Little Wars !

Toe-to-Toe Nu’klr Combat with the Rooskies

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The other night I had a chance sit down and try out this, fun, new game from Victory Point Games…

Toe-to-Toe Nu'klr Combat with the Rooskies

Ok, so your first question is: “What is this Toe-to-Toe Nu’klr Combat with the Rooskies business all about?

Well, I’m gonna cheat here and borrow from the VPG website; “Toe-to-Toe Nu’klr Combat with the Rooskies is a fast-playing solitaire game. You decide the payload, pick your targets and must then challenge the Soviet Union’s defenses.”

This simple statement really sums things up nicely. Sure there is more to it than that, but this description was enough to make me want to try this one – in short the game fully lives up to this description. It is a fast-playing game. Pick a target, determine the payload and go for it! easy as pie (really).

The game uses a card & chit (marker) system. Markers are placed face down in each space along your selected flight path. Entry into a space reveals the marker, (a SAM site, MIG aircraft, increased awareness of your ingress, or a random event). Encounters are frequent, and must be dealt with…

Choices, and you do have choices to make, increase altitude to reduce the chance of a SAM hit? Or perhaps go in under the radar? Watch your fule consumption – you do want to make it home don’t you? Perhaps a target of opportunity (a newly discovered missile silo) will appear? Do you hit it or push on to your primary and secondary objectives? Dont forget to use flares (handy when dealing with MIGs) and chaff (if dealing with SAMs)…

All this and more awaits you in Toe-to-Toe Nu’klr Combat with the Rooskies. Wait, we forgot about the fat playng part – an average game can be completed in under 15minutes (including setup) and with a campaign game length of 4 missions you wil have an enjoyable hour!

Yee-Haw!

Victory Point Games (my new favorite board game publisher) hits another home run!